Andrew Reid

Fairchild are part of OnSemi now.

The Blackmagic 12K sensor manufacturer is probably OnSemi as well?

I think it's OnSemi.

They are ARRI's partner on the new ALEXA sensor.

TowerJazz had / have a joint venture with Panasonic, but OnSemi make the more up-to-date sensor tech and there are quite a few parallels between the ALEXA sensor readout tech and latest Panasonic cameras.

In 2022 Panasonic exited the semiconductors business and sold all the assets. The organic sensor project is official dead, but it allowed them to partner with more than just Sony for sensors.

Ouch

LensSEL24F28G
$599.99
$799.99
33.3%

LensSEL50F18/B
$349.99
$449.99
28.6%

LensSEL50F18/S
$349.99
$449.99
28.6%

When is a cheap lens no longer a cheap lens!

The irony is this will only benefit the CHINESE lens makers!!

Like I said these idiotic tariffs are causing the market to act as a cartel.

Capitalism is all about competition so if one company faces higher costs, and the others don't, then that company suffers and the rest can keep their prices low.

If all companies are forced to up-their prices, it sets a new expectation for the entire market for costs, and nobody loses as the consumer can't simply turn to a company with lower prices when they are all subject to the same market forces.

So even if the prices go up in the US, that gives the camera companies the perfect excuse to do the dirty on the UK and Europe as well.

Yes I have the Beastgrip DOF adapter, but... controversial opinion alert... Mirrorless cameras are a far better tool for interchangeable lenses. They have the grip, the physical controls, the EVF and the ergonomics and weight balance, where a smartphone just feels shit when there's a big weight on the front. For me, the Beastgrip was interesting to play with for a few shots, but nothing more.

I just didn't see the point when I could just pick up an X-Pro3 instead.

As a standalone camera the 14 Ultra has an upper-hand over mirrorless camera creatively though which is why I bought it... in that it's capable of firing off so many different shot styles on the spot, in a few seconds, with ease and speed... which I absolutely love and to do the same with interchangeable lenses would take forever and the shots would be gone or the light would be different.

Not to mention the stealth factor for street photography too.

I think the beauty of these smartphones is they are..... smartphones. Always with you, and no need to reach into a bag of lenses every time you see a shot worth taking.

Nice work @Jip-Hop

I was working a few years ago with MotionCam devs on the Discord, really nice guys. The app has come on a lot since then. So much to get into.

I tested around 30 or 40 phones with it at one point. Personal favourites were the 6K capable Moto Edge+ (2020 version) with large 1/1.33" Samsung sensor, similar to Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, both really cheap phones now on eBay, and the Oneplus 8 Pro did well with it too, 4K/60p and the dev's favourite... For a month or so I became completely obsessed with discovering the hidden raw video talents of telephones... Went round Berlin's Saturn stores and installed it on a few models there too 🙂

I had the RED Hydrogen to play with too, but that one's a bit old to support it.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra is a perfect tool for it, but yes the guide is much needed to get the settings optimised for it.

If you wanna collab on anything just DM me!

What are your most treasured pets (I mean cameras) that somehow buck the trend with the cutest personality. Personally, mine are...

And the X-Pro3 DURA with all that expensive titanium and unusual screen design.

Following closely behind...

Panasonic GM1 and the batshit crazy Sigma Quattro series, including the SD mirrorless.

What's yours?

If anyone wants to have some retro CCD fun then I have found a fun little bargain for you...

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/olympus-e-500-digital-slr-camera-body-used-3242908/

This is using the same Kodak CCD sensor tech as the M8, just a slightly smaller chip at 2x crop vs 1.5x.

The colours and grain are a thing of filmic beauty and it has the rather lovely Olympus colour science in JPEGs too.

3 hours ago, ND64 said:

Thom Hogan:

"Nowhere in Panasonic's press releases or marketing information I've seen so far do they actually seem to know how to market their six different 24mp cameras (S1II, S1IIE, S5II, S5IIX, S9, and BS1H). In the S1IIE features list the sensor is listed as "inspired by the performance characteristics of the Lumix S5II," which tells you nothing. Those of us in the press these days are dealing with AI driven press releases, but I'm failing to even see the I in Panasonic's. Nothing tells me which 24mp camera to buy, let alone why I should buy it instead of Canon's, Nikon's, or Sony's. This feels like "stuff the channel and see if it sells" product management, not clear, user centric marketing."

If I were the modern day Chris and Jordan in a camera store somewhere I would try and explain it like this...

Buy the S5 II as it's cheapest, unless you need a few extra video features, which I'll explain in a moment. But if you're a photographer it's an easy choice, definitely S5 II best and cheapest. Unless you compare it to the Canon R8, Nikon Z6 II, Sony a7c, or wait actually I forgot the S9... That is the cheapest for photographers, except not if you are a photographer that needs to look through an EVF or wants a mechanical shutter. I'll explain what that does in a moment. But first, you say you're actually quite interested in video, so I'd recommend the S1 IIE instead, as the S5 II is already made obsolete by it, so pay the extra for the E version and you will get... erm... An E on the badge. Also are you sure you don't want to go all the way out to $3500 for the S1 II, yes that is $1000 more than a Z6 III for the same sensor and no N-RAW, worse body design, but it is the best Panasonic... for video... I think... At least for a month or 2 before the S1H II might come out, or it might not... Oh shit, we're forgetting the S1R II. That does 8K open gate now, they just gave it a firmware update. Hey, Johnny where're you're going... Come back Johnny! HEY! STAY AWAY FROM THAT CANON EOS R5 II FFS!

They must have needed to buy that 24 megapixel sensor in such large quantities, the 7 different models were a necessity.

And by the time the year is out, it might turn into 10!

https://www.eoshd.com/news/what-to-expect-from-nikons-first-red-mirrorless-camera-the-nikon-zr/

Finally a larger than 3.5" screen on a mirrorless camera? Sign me up

If they bring the RED Motion Mount technology to it, then sign me up for 2!

$3500, wow.

It's almost as if the Trump Tarrifs have given everyone the excuse to globally raise prices in unison like a big cartel / monopoly. Not good.

39 minutes ago, John Matthews said:

On another note, I'm not exactly how MPB decides to offload cameras sometimes. One day, there're 20 GH6 bodies and the next day none. 

They give them to DHL and they go missing.

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

I feel for them a little bit.

• Full-frame mirrorless camera with a 24.1MP partially stacked CMOS sensor
• Powered by a Venus Engine for fast processing, refined colour and low noise
• Over 15 stops of dynamic range with Dual Native ISO support
• 1.6x faster Phase Hybrid AF system with 779 focus points and AI tracking
• Records uncropped 5.1K open gate video at up to 60p and 6K at 30p
• Supports 5.9K 60p and 5.8K Apple ProRes internal recording via CFexpress
• C4K and 4K video recording up to 120p in 10-bit for high frame rate capture
• 10-bit HEIF captures rich tonal detail, smaller file sizes and HDR-ready stills
• Real-time LUT preview and false colour for on-set monitoring
• Features 8-stop in-body image stabilisation without crop
• 32-bit float audio recording achieved via optional XLR adapter
• Dual card slots with CFexpress Type B and SD UHS-II support
• Supports direct USB-SSD recording for high bitrate capture and fast offloading
• Compatible with UltraSync BLUE for wireless Bluetooth timecode sync
• Blackout-free electronic burst shooting up to 70fps for fast action capture
• Tilt and vari-angle 3.0-inch LCD with 1.84M-dot resolution
• 5.76M-dot OLED EVF with 100% frame coverage and high refresh rate
• Dust and splash-resistant body, weighing only 800g
• Includes a 3-month Capture One licence in the box

After producing something with that spec, they're entitled to be a bit like..

Yeah the spec is the least of the problems, and props to the crafty engineers in Japan for the wide ranging feature set.

The problem is it's equivalent in spec to the Nikon Z6 III, but that came out 1 year ago and costs £1999 new now, in the UK.

That extra £1000 for the Panasonic, the average bloke is going to question what for.

Sony a7s III also very close in spec, but that came out nearly 5 years ago (and itself was a bit late, a big gap from the a7s II)... At least the S1 II is 6K, and 24 megapixel... as 12mp seems very long in the tooth now.

The EOS R5 is also around £1999 now... at least used in good nick... That we know had a trouble start to life. But the spec still holds up today and for £1000 less than the S1 II you're getting 8K RAW, 45 megapixel, Canon colour and so on...

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

By the same token, we are probably entitled to say "we might have been a couple of years ago and if it was cheaper".

2022 was the time to launch this... Getting it out before the same sensor comes along in a cheaper Nikon, would have been a half decent plan.

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

I've said it before but the S5ii continues to be Panasonic's problem child in that it raised expectation for the 2nd generation of cameras and at a price that was pretty surprising.

That camera got the upgraders from Panasonic's MFT cameras (myself included) and this new one is asking the question "2x the price, 2x the camera?" for both the holdouts of to the MFT system and those who already moved up to the S5ii and are looking to go up again.

I think the S1 II is aimed at existing Panasonic pro customers.

It's almost if they have given up trying to appeal to the rest who are locked into a non-L lens mount.

Also interesting is that the S1 II didn't form the basis for the SL3-S, and Panasonic didn't give Leica the fundamentals and sensor from the S1R II. A big change in strategy, that.

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

I think it probably is 2x the camera for some people but I can't see anyone who isn't in the L mount prison (and that is what L mount is) walking into a shop and paying 50% more for it over the Z6iii let alone paying the 10% more than a lightly used Z8.

Lightly used Z8 is now £500 less than the S1 II new, and you can slap E-mount lenses on it.

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

They have the opportunity to do a FujiFilm and offer an alternative but they've left them to it to pursue two companies that absolutely out heritage them and another company that  they are at the mercy of when it comes to sensors.

The other problem I have with it, is that I really wish they'd add a bit of Fuji-style flare to proceedings, I am so bored of all cameras looking and feeling the same. And in terms of ergonomics the S5 II body was always going to be a cheaper feeling a7 IV. The buttons are not as well laid out, the jog wheel is spongy and the finish of the magnesium alloy chassis makes it look and feel shiny and cheaper than it actually is. Where's my Fuji looks like this...

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

This will all end with someone at corporate HQ dispassionately looking at the Lumix division and striking a red pen through it.

Exactly like what happened to Samsung.

Yeah this is what I fear too...

Which is why I'm so harsh on them.

They need to be doing a lot better than they are, strategically, creatively and everything... And this of course, is a different angle to take on the S1 II than most people who buy it will take... They just want to shoot with it and explore the new features, and fair play to 'em.

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Cameras that I think they could look at doing to offer some difference would be :

New GX80 with the bulk of the GH7 inside or at the very least the GH5 and then not charge a stupid amount of money for it  as it should be possible for sub £1000.

Honestly the GX80 and GX9 are mega popular on eBay with the instagram crowd, they definitely all these years later are proving to be what people want in terms of a small body design.

The LX100 also, has seen hefty used price inflation.

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

A Super35 bridge camera with a 7x or even 5x zoom, no compromise video internals, ND and then not charge a stupid amount of money for it  as it should be possible for sub £2000.  Essentially a grown up version of the FZ2000.

I'd buy either of those and I don't think I'd be alone.

Currently, Lumix are like the smart, quirky indie girl that you fell in love with and now ten years later she's got hair extensions, fake tits, a trout pout and two ton of fillers because she wants to be a Kardashian.

Has anyone noticed the colour science looks rather good from the S1R II and S1 II.

There's definitely positives going on with it, and credit to the Japanese engineers.

What a shame it has been priced and marketed with all the creativity of a wet sponge.

The negative chatter is a real thing indeed. They have this decade long hard fought reputation for good prices and then destroy it in a blink of an eye. It also means the real 'street value' of the used S1 II bodies will be much lower than new... As in much.

Which means it will be impossible for most people who want an S1 II to justify spending £1000 more on a new one vs used one that has been a shelf queen with a shutter count of 400.

Panasonic is in a losing battle because the fewer quantities that ship, the higher the pricing needs to be to turn a profit.

This is a game they can't win as the higher the pricing, the less they sell, and the even higher the pricing will be on subsequent models.

The whole camera industry has fallen into this trap in fact.

The margin must be enormous on that bill of materials.

Meanwhile the big irony is... Sony can't sell enough of the a1 II at 7 grand.

It has been out of stock forever.

So whilst there is undoubtably a lucrative market for expensive pro cameras, Panasonic isn't in it as they have no real flagship or cutting edge sensor supply.

Check out the GX9 prices

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

I've now got a vision of the prostitute reaching for the marketing team's trousers and whispering "Lets Get Undone".

Thanks for that.

Now it's in my head as well, where's that ignore button when you need it?! 😉

I just wrote an entire Black Mirror episode based on camera marketing and it actually came out quite well as a piece of dystopian satire.

If anyone has any good ideas for it DM me.

But please no sad washed-up social media grifter with a cat characters.

It is a friendship, just a very transactional one. Only in this case the prostitute is not waiting patiently in Knightsbridge at a fancy bar.

It's me.

At the start of this Canadian video somebody says that although Panasonic paid for their hotel, travel and lunch, and that they rubbed shoulders with Panasonic people and consider them friends, that definitely in no way influences the positive opinions they have about Panasonic's products, which is nicely convenient, imagine how embarrassing it would be otherwise.

No matter which way the client YouTubers spin it, the S1 II price is too high and it is being released at least 2 years too late (and that is being kind, as the original was a 2018 launch).

My problem with it is not the extensive feature set and specs, it's that huge 7 year gap and the pricing strategy, along with the rest of the product strategy which is batshit crazy, and I put my money where my mouth is by refusing the invite by Panasonic to go and praise it along with a bunch of client social media click weasels.

There are so many similar options with better lens mounts to choose from now.

And the complexity is not always a good thing. Look at how much more fun the Sigma Bf is or the minimalist Leica approach.

Had the S1 II been 2.5k and the year was 2022... Sign me up.

But as it is, I am going to pass.

May get an S9 again though as it's now under a grand, it's a fun toy.

With regards to the 51st state of shilling, if you just ignore the impact this is having on independent media, the non-embargoed opinions and journalism as a whole, then it's a perfectly mediocre review that can fit on a single side of a4.

If you get big picture though, it's near enough fascism.

An entire media platform singing in tune under a corporate embargo.

Charlie Brooker should make a Black Mirror episode out of it. I might write one myself.

It would be far more enjoyable than making your average 2025 camera 'review'.

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Maybe they went with that old fashioned notion of believing that the actual President of the United States wouldn't say that Canada is the 51st state unless it had any basis in reality whatsoever.

Schoolboy error that one.

 

The 51st state of American YouTube

Everyone is approaching this in their own way I suppose.

YouTuber's want to bring the hype in their main role as client journalists, I use the term journalist very lightly, the aim to strengthen their access to future launches and to reward the paymaster. Of course they've also got an eye on the view-counts and click-revenue, it's all going down as the camera market shrinks. They need to hype stuff, to get the numbers up. The more the numbers fall, the more repetitive embargoed hyperbolic shit you will see from these channels.

Panasonic loyal users are approaching it from the angle of, well, we waited 7 years and still love our S1H/S1, etc. and the S1 II is by no means a bad camera, new sensor and lots of nice video modes, so £3000 isn't so bad and I will agree with them and the reasons they have for making the purchase.

I meanwhile am coming at it less from the specs and image quality side at the moment (I don't have the demo units and don't plan to buy it either), so coming at it more from the big picture stuff, the market strategy and industry POV especially where it concerns Panasonic's survival, and whether they are doing enough to take market share off Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm, so that their higher-ups can justify them existing for much longer. This is very important for me, as I have a long history with Panasonic's products and we can't afford to lose a brand as important as Lumix from cameras.

Plus I just want to see some fucking creativity.

I am so tired of the same old formula of camera design and the lack of a basic exposure feature such as an ND filter is a tragic joke at this point.

Just some thoughts on the current situation.

https://www.eoshd.com/news/the-panasonic-s1-ii-pricing-is-wrong-so-is-the-entire-product-strategy/

TLDR:

You can't charge £3000+ for a 24 megapixel camera in 2025 without a flagship sensor anywhere to be seen.

Plus, they have made us wait 7 years for it.

Autofocus performance only 5th, behind Sony, Nikon, Canon, OM System.

There's still no rangefinder-style L-mount camera from Panasonic to replace the Micro Four Thirds stuff, GX80, GX9, and so on. (S9 doesn't count as it doesn't have an EVF or a proper shutter in it).

Engineering doing a great job, product planning, marketing and ergonomic design is the problem. And to add to that, sensor procurement and the too-low R&D budget since 2020.

Competition have better sensors, and lower prices, and more lenses, and more popular branding, and more popular lens mounts. Not good.

Conclusion is that Panasonic's sales may fold.

And if the price keeps increasing on the current trajectory, there will be no camera market to speak of anyway.

Look at this hyperbole.

Depressing.

This is why I quit regular camera reviews, there are far more enjoyable and creative ways to do Youtube and journalism.

Why doesn't Gerald yearn to make a film instead or shoot instead? He has no interest in it. He knows his job and his role in this industry is to sell cameras.